Closed Athens University Room Dances to Anarchists’ Tune

November 8, 2018

Athens University's School of Philosophy. (Photo by Eurokinissi/Tatiana Bollari)

ATHENS – The closing of a room at Athens University’s School of Philosophy didn’t keep the notorious anarchist group Rouvikonas from going ahead with a party there, in the spot it has been occupying for weeks, out of the reach of police under an asylum law reinstated by the ruling Radical Left SYRIZA-led coalition.

School officials had hoped to prevent the embarrassment of the group from celebrating in the room it took over weeks ago and as it also set up recruitment booths on the campus to try to bring more members into its fold.

To mark the occasion, the group danced to rebetiko music, the tunes of rebellion, although only about 40 people attended and students they had hoped to attract didn’t get in, said the newspaper Kathimerini.

Education Minister Costas Gavroglou met with representatives of POSDEP, the union of university professors, to discuss soaring lawlessness on Greek campuses, with critics saying it’s being condoned by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in a bid to reestablish leftist credentials after his repeated reneging on anti-austerity promises to satisfy international creditors.

In October, the group’s presence was not welcomed by the head of the faculty, Eleni Karamolengou, apparently unhappy they wanted to discuss their philosophy at the school of philosophy.

“We are here to stay,” said members of Rouvikonas, which has splashed paint on foreign embassies, tossed leaflets inside the grounds of the Defense Ministry and other ministries, smashed windows and even gone after the offices of SYRIZA, a party ironically full of anarchist and terrorist sympathizers.

Rouvikonas is upset that Tsipras reneged on anti-austerity promises and surrendered to Capitalist lenders, NATO and the United States, political enemies of the group and allegedly as well of SYRIZA before the Premier conceded to them.

“We are tremendously amused by the reactions of Mrs. Karamolengou and of the media,” the group said in a website post, adding that Rouvikonas plans to “guard its stall with its presence,” a warning they should not be trifled with.